About

With our other projects, like Shoot The Banker, Surrogaid
and Prank House, we took the real world and brought it into the digital space.
Now, with Blood Sport, we’re taking the consequences of the gaming world and
having them affect you in real life. So every time you get hit in the game, blood
will be intravenously drawn from your arm.

HOW IT WORKS

It’s stupidly simple. Remember the rumble pack? Well,
nowadays most video game controllers rumble when you get shot in the game. That
rumbling means that an electrical signal is being sent to the controller to let
you know you’ve been hit. All we’re doing is re-routing that same electrical
signal and using it to turn on the blood collection system.

Using just two wires, we’re able to connect your controller
to the blood collection machine via an Arduino Board.

The Arduino Board has two jobs: One, to keep the signal
going to the blood collection system and, two, to keep track of how much blood
is being pulled so that Blood Sport powers down before you do. We’ve done this
by allowing you to input your age, weight and any preexisting medical conditions.

Simply put, we’re not reinventing the wheel. All we’re doing
is hacking a pre-existing blood collection machine to take your gaming
experience to the next level.

BUT WHY?

Our goal is to develop a refined multi-player unit that can
be taken across the country for blood donation gaming events. We are not a
charity and we are not a game manufacturer. We are simply creating the gaming
hardware that will allow us to get gamers thinking about more important issues
while still doing what they love. From there, we’ll partner with the
appropriate organizations in both the gaming and medical communities to bring
it all to life.

WHEN AND WHO

With your help, it will all start March 17th in Toronto, Canada – timed to piggyback the media hype behind the launch of Battlefield Hardline.

But we don't want to rely on Battlefield alone. To get people really excited about this initiative we'll need to draw on every outlet possible. So, aside from pledging, please be sure to challenge your favorite
gamers and celebrities to come and participate. And, mostly importantly, to see if they can handle
Blood Sport.

Right now we just have one very makeshift unit, and it’s not
fun losing blood to a Non-Player Character. So, we’re going to use the funds we
receive here to create a proper two-player unit that can withstand the wear and
tear of touring around the country. At the moment we’re using a single blood
collection system we found. For the nationwide Blood Sport tour, we’d like to
have two brand new blood collection machines hooked up to our systems. Any
money we have leftover, we’ll use for travel costs, safety measures and to promote the tour. None will be kept for profit and the creators will work for free.

If we are not successful in reaching our goal – or, should we run into unforeseen complications – all of your money will be refunded in full per Kickstarter's rules and regulations.

WHAT GAMES DOES IT
WORK WITH?

All of them! As long as it’s a console that has controllers
that rumble, we can plug it in and play!

THE CREATORS

We’re just two dudes, who normally work as digital creative experts at advertising agencies, who took some time off. We’ve made all of this in our apartment with the help of some friends.

Taran Chadha | www.befatandsassy.com: You might remember him as the creator of the first reality video games Shoot The Banker and Prank House starring Internet celebrities such as Charles Trippy and Shay Carl. He currently resides at the RAID studios, and has worked as a Senior Creative for award winning ad agencies including TAXI Toronto, JWT New York, and BBH New York.

Jonathon Root (Producer): Jonny cut his chops at William F White International, where he created their digital filming production units. Currently, he runs a boutique ad agency, and produces the magazine Look Local.

James Jarvis (Test Subject): James Jarvis is a writer working in television production. James has worked primarily in unscripted television shooting everywhere from Yellowknife to Newfoundland. His credits include production coordinating on the Discovery Channel's Fools Gold and assistant directing on Alliance Films'Undercover Boss Canada.

Programmer: Anonymous due to conflict of interest at work.

OUR GOAL

250k seems like a lot?!! It did to us too, but after doing some hard math, it was the best we could do with a tour around Canada. Buying all the latest gaming equipment plus all new medical gear gets expensive fast, and then transporting all that stuff around the country with the help of professional staff isn't cheap. But we think there's enough hardcore gamers out there, that if we all pitch in a little, we can make this happen.

Risks and challenges

OVERVIEW OF RISKS

Obviously, Blood Sport has a lot of skeptics. More than anything, people fear giving blood. And when you add a competitive layer to it, even more so. But by running carefully monitored tests with medical professionals, we’ve created a unit that makes blood donation easy, fun and nearly painless.

Remember, we’re coming at this as gamers, and that’s really what the hardware is all about. We’re not inventing any new medical devices and it’s not for sale. All we want to do is create the best, most immersive gaming experience possible – while also helping people in need.

PRODUCTION RISKS
Though most of the gear like the controller, and the Arduino Board are easy to access, there is the risk of the new blood collection systems not being completely compatible with our current setup as well as their delivery not being insured. We'll do our best to work around this, but there is this risk.

DELIVERY DATE
Our prototype is ready for the highest pledge levels to try, but our March 17th date as well as the summer tour can be delayed by unexpected problems. We can still meet these deadlines and demo the single player unit already built, but we'll do our best to make sure the new multi-player unit is complete and ready to rock.

DELIVERY
We don't mail out anything. You will have to come to us, and we'll only be in the largest cities in each province (sometimes the second largest as well). But hey, at least it's part of the adventure.

UPDATES
Through this campaign we'll do our best to update you on whatever we can.

WAIVER
Anyone who pledges to try blood sport must first sign an injury waiver on the day of, the same kind you'd sign if you were going skydiving or entering a karate tournament. Participants must also fill out all standard blood donation paperwork and waivers for the the province in which they donate.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY BODILY HARM INCURRED AS A RESULT OF ATTEMPTING TO REPLICATE BLOOD SPORT'S FUNCTION.

BY PLACING A PLEDGE ON THIS CAMPAIGN, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT THE RISKS & CHALLENGES OF BLOOD SPORT.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge CA$ 500 or more
About US$ 378

You'll get to try Blood Sport three weeks before our public launch at our apartment in Toronto, Canada (travel & accommodations not included). Plus we'll take you out for lunch and show you how it works. PLUS, everything above.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge CA$ 1,000 or more
About US$ 755

Come try out the single player iteration of Blood Sport one Saturday anytime from January to March. And we'll treat you to dinner at Branca, an Argentinean grill-house, where you can ask us anything about Blood Sport. PLUS, everything above.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge CA$ 5,000 or more
About US$ 3,777

Come try out the single player iteration of Blood Sport one Saturday anytime from January to March in our apartment and we'll show you exactly how Blood Sport works AND we'll give you the code – all the information you need to create your own version. Plus, we'll treat you to a fun day filled with meals at the places mentioned above. And we'll mark your place in video game history by adding your name to our website.